Green Education: An A-to-Z Guide explores the environmental movement's proliferation in the field of education, from elementary school classroom efforts to the university curriculum to building sustainable campuses. Focusing on the critical role of education in building a sustainable future, approximately 150 signed entries, written by scholars and experts in a variety of disciplines, examine school and college courses in green education, the structures of educational institutions, the challenges of reducing their ecological footprint, administrative policies, green campus organizations, and s
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Green Ethics and Philosophy: An A-to-Z Guide covers the moral relationship between humans and their natural environment, specifically targeting the contemporary green movement. Since the 1960s, green ethics and philosophies have helped give birth to the civil rights, feminist, and gay rights movements, as well as contemporary environmentalism. With a primary focus on green environmental ethics, this reference work, available in both print and electronic formats, presents approximately 150 signed entries organized A-to-Z, traversing a wide range of curricular disciplines, including philosophy
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the development and implementation of how a greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target at Yale University has resulted in broad and long‐term institutional commitment.Design/methodology/approachInterviews are conducted with key individuals representing those most directly involved in developing and implementing Yale's GHG target.FindingsThe development of an institutional GHG reduction target calls upon a recursive process. A goal starts with a vision, followed by development, endorsement and implementation, and leads to institutional change. With change, comes new perspective to define a new vision. Upfront development of an implementation plan is critical not only for successful goal implementation, but also for endorsement from institutional leadership.Research limitations/implicationsA process for the development of a GHG reduction target is extrapolated from only one case study. Further case examples would be helpful.Practical implicationsThis case study relays an experience that may help other institutions to implement their own GHG reduction targets, and other sustainability goals more generally.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the importance of institutional goals in creating sustainable universities. A process by which institutions can follow to achieve GHG emission reductions is suggested.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to expand on the development of university and college sustainability metrics by implementing an adaptable metric target strategy.Design/methodology/approachA combined qualitative and quantitative methodology is derived that both defines what a sustainable metric target might be and describes the path a university might take to get there. Local to global spatial scales and short to long‐term time scales are accounted for. Four popular metrics are developed: carbon emissions, water use, recycling rate, and energy use. Sustainability metric data available from Yale University are utilized to show the applicability of this metric target strategy.FindingsTargets for sustainability metrics may be set at short, medium, and long‐term time scales. While quantitative targets may be set for sustainability metrics, these are often long‐term ideals that offer no information on the path to achieve them. If a path to achieving these targets is outlined, it is often arbitrary quantitatively, if not also qualitatively. This paper finds that sustainability metric targets can be founded upon clearly delineated, rigorously quantified targets. At the same time, the process framework for developing sustainability metric targets is adaptable to the unique situation of a particular university. This adaptable metric target strategy reflects the ideals of sustainability to be at one time both local and global in scope. The metric target strategy is globally applicably, but the sustainability metric targets produced will be unique to each institution.Research limitations/implicationsThe process framework for developing sustainable metric targets is only outlined for four popular metrics. Achieving these four targets alone will certainly not define a university as sustainable. Further development of other sustainability metrics utilizing the framework presented would be helpful.Practical implicationsThe application to real metric data shows the feasibility of this approach for use at other universities and colleges. They can define their own sustainability targets using the approach outlined.Originality/valueThis paper highlights how sustainability metrics being collected by universities may be used to define a target path towards sustainability. The process framework presented has the potential to provide unique solutions for each institution while remaining a universal methodological approach.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which a sample of US-based higher education institution's (HEI's) climate targets and associated climate action planning efforts align with the definitions of and practices associated with science-based targets (SBTs) that are typically used to organize corporate climate efforts. This analysis will be used to explore similarities and tease out differences between how US-based HEIs and corporations approach sustainable target setting and organize sustainable action.
Design/methodology/approach The degree of intersection between a sample of HEI climate action plans from Ivy Plus (Ivy+) schools and the current SBT initiative (SBTi) general corporate protocol was assessed by using an objective-oriented evaluative approach.
Findings While there were some areas of overlap between HEI's climate action planning and SBTi's general corporate protocol – for instance, the setting of both short- and long-term targets and large-scale investments in renewable energy – significant areas of difference in sampled HEIs included scant quantitative Scope 3 targets, the use offsets to meet short-term targets and a low absolute annual reduction of Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
Originality/value This paper unites diverse areas of literature on SBTs, corporate sustainability target setting and sustainability in higher education. It provides an overview of the potential benefits and disadvantages of HEIs adopting SBTs and provides recommendations for the development of sector-specific SBTi guidelines.
Purpose Sustainability performance in higher education is often evaluated at a generalized large scale. It remains unknown to what extent campus efforts address regional sustainability needs. This study begins to address this gap by evaluating trends in performance through the lens of regional environmental characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach Four sustainability metrics across 300 North American institutions are analyzed between 2005 and 2014. The study applies two established regional frameworks to group and assess the institutions: Commission on Environmental Cooperation Ecoregions and WaterStat (water scarcity status). Standard t-tests were used to assess significant differences between the groupings of institutions as compared to the North American study population as a whole.
Findings Results indicate that all institutions perform statistically uniformly for most variables when grouped at the broadest (Level I) ecoregional scale. One exception is the Marine West Coast Forest ecoregion where institutions outperformed the North American average for several variables. Only when institutions are grouped at a smaller scale of (Level III) ecoregions do the majority of significant performance patterns emerge.
Research limitations/implications This paper demonstrates an ecoregions-based analytical approach to evaluating sustainability performance that contrasts with common evaluation methods in the implementation field. This research also identifies a gap in the literature explicitly linking ecological sub-regions with their associated environmental challenges and identifies next research steps in developing defensible regional targets for applied sustainability efforts.
Practical implications The practical implications of this research include the following: substantive changes to methodologies for rating sustainability leadership and performance, a framework that incentivizes institutions to frame sustainability efforts in terms of collaborative or collective impact, a framework within which institutions can meaningfully prioritize efforts, and a potential shift toward regional impact metrics rather than those focused solely on campus-based or generalized targets.
Originality/value The authors believe this to be the first effort to analyze North American higher education sustainability performance using regional frameworks.
A variety of good management practices have been recommended to minimize the impact of water runoff from production nurseries. However, studies have not been conducted to gauge which management practices nursery producers are most likely to adopt in response to education and increased government oversight. We surveyed 85 production nurseries in Southern California about their existing practices to limit the impacts of runoff from their facilities. Of these, 65 in Ventura County were resurveyed with the same questionnaire within 2 years. The positive response rate for following good management practices was 65%, compared to 57% in the initial survey. There were significant increases in every category of practices surveyed, and significant changes in the adoption of 38 specific practices. This suggests that nurseries are amenable to adopting management practices within a short time span in areas where there is increased governmental oversight and educational opportunities for growers.
A variety of good management practices have been recommended to minimize the impact of water runoff from production nurseries. However, studies have not been conducted to gauge which management practices nursery producers are most likely to adopt in response to education and increased government oversight. We surveyed 85 production nurseries in Southern California about their existing practices to limit the impacts of runoff from their facilities. Of these, 65 in Ventura County were resurveyed with the same questionnaire within 2 years. The positive response rate for following good management practices was 65%, compared to 57% in the initial survey. There were significant increases in every category of practices surveyed, and significant changes in the adoption of 38 specific practices. This suggests that nurseries are amenable to adopting management practices within a short time span in areas where there is increased governmental oversight and educational opportunities for growers.
Purpose This study aims to explore barriers and pathways to a whole-institution governance of sustainability within the working structures of universities.
Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on multi-year interviews and hierarchical structure analysis of ten universities in Canada, the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Brazil, the UK and The Netherlands. The paper addresses existing literature that championed further integration between the two organizational sides of universities (academic and operations) and suggests approaches for better embedding sustainability into four primary domains of activity (education, research, campus operations and community engagement).
Findings This research found that effective sustainability governance needs to recognise and reconcile distinct cultures, diverging accountability structures and contrasting manifestations of central-coordination and distributed-agency approaches characteristic of the university's operational and academic activities. The positionality of actors appointed to lead institution-wide embedding influenced which domain received most attention. The paper concludes that a whole-institution approach would require significant tailoring and adjustments on both the operational and academic sides to be successful.
Originality/value Based on a review of sustainability activities at ten universities around the world, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the governance implications of integrating sustainability into the four domains of university activity. It discusses how best to work across the operational/academic divide and suggests principles for adopting a whole institution approach to sustainability.
